1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a data processing method and a system using the method for sharing data when, for example, a plurality of users perform editing operations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, when a plurality of computer systems are connected through a network or the like, and one of the systems intends to use data locally held by another system, for example, in an operation of pasting data cut in the other system to data of the one system, the cut data is first pasted to data shared by all the systems. Thereafter, the necessary data is cut again from the shared data, and the cut data is pasted to the data to which the the cut data is to be pasted.
FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b) illustrate such a cut-and-paste operation in the prior art. In this operation, an object on a personal window 5a-1 of system A is cut and is then pasted onto a personal window 5b-1 of system B. First, the object cut in system A is pasted onto a shared window 5a-3 of system A. The object also appears on a shared window 5b-3 of system B. The object on the shared window 5b-3 is cut in system B, and the cut object is pasted onto the personal window 5b-1 of system B. Thus, the object on the personal window 5a-1 of system A is pasted onto the personal window 5b-1 of system B.
When a plurality of systems perform editing operations while sharing data (for example, in the case of groupware), a request of a system to use data cut by another system during an editing operation without modification often exists. In the above-described conventional approach, however, since data cut by the other system is not written in a cutting buffer of the one system, the data pasted to a region shared by all the systems by the other system must be cut again. Furthermore, for example, in the case of graphic data or image data, it is difficult to cut data pasted by the other system in entirely the same shape.